Big 12 quarterback rankings took a noticeable shakeup after Week 4, and Drew Mestemaker was the biggest mover. His performance at West Virginia - a 41-24 Oklahoma State win - was the kind that forces attention. He was sharp late, repeatedly finding Wyatt Young on deep shots in the second half, and the Cowboys rode that burst to pull away.
Mestemaker’s jump came in a week that also brought a return, a benching and a few uneven outings. DJ Lagway stepped back into the mix in Baylor’s 23-13 win over Colorado, Keyone Jenkins handled his business in UCF’s 21-13 win against TCU, and Will Hammond’s day went sideways in Texas Tech’s 49-14 win over Sam Houston State after three straight interceptions. Colorado’s quarterback situation changed, too, with Deion Sanders benching Julian Lewis for Isaac Wilson at halftime and later saying Wilson would start going forward.
Here’s how the eight best Big 12 quarterbacks stack up entering Week 5 of the 2026 season.
Michael Hawkins Jr. remains one of the league’s most dangerous runners, and that showed again at West Virginia. He piled up 103 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, but Oklahoma State also exposed a limitation when the Mountaineers needed him to beat them with his arm as the game tightened in the fourth quarter.
That matters this week, because Iowa State will be Hawkins Jr.’s first Big 12 road environment of the season at noon EDT on TNT. The Cyclones were vulnerable against the run against Utah, which fits the way the Mountaineer offense wants to operate.
Lagway is back in the conversation after his return against Colorado. The box score was messy - he finished 19-of-39 passing - but he still accounted for both Baylor touchdowns, one on a contested throw into the corner of the end zone and the other on a 33-yard deep ball.
His first Big 12 road test comes at Arizona State at 10:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN, and the Sun Devils have already seen two inconsistent quarterbacks in Marcel Reed and Isaiah Marshall.
Conner Weigman delivered exactly what Houston needed in its 42-28 win at Georgia Southern. He went 17-of-22 for 239 yards and four passing touchdowns, then added the other two scores on the ground. Now he gets UCF in Houston’s first Big 12 home game of the year at noon EDT on ESPN2.
Mestemaker’s rise is built on more than one outing. Against West Virginia, he finished 20-of-27 for 389 yards and threw only one interception, and even that mistake came with four defenders around the intended receiver.
The rest of the afternoon was all about the deep ball, and Oklahoma State kept leaning into it until the game broke open. After a bye in Week 5, UCF will be his first conference home test.
The quarterback picture at Kansas State is quieter this week because the Wildcats are off, but Avery Johnson still has work to clean up after the 31-26 loss at Cincinnati. His legs were mostly taken away, with a 10-yard run on the first possession standing as his longest of the night, and most of his passing game stayed underneath.
He did connect with Derrick Salley Jr. on a 39-yard completion, though. Kansas State returns in Week 6 to host Houston.
BYU also comes off a bye, and Bear Bachmeier has been productive through three games: 642 passing yards, six touchdowns, one interception, plus 64 rushing yards and two more scores. The Cougars head to TCU for a 7 p.m. EDT matchup on ESPN, and Bachmeier figures to present a much different challenge than the first two quarterbacks the Horned Frogs saw, Billy Edwards and Keyone Jenkins.
Arizona’s Noah Fifita had a rough moment early in the Wildcats’ 34-24 win over Washington State when he threw a pick six to a safety who had crept in from behind his target. He recovered with big throws down the field, connecting with Tre Spivey, Caleb Smith and Chris Hunter III on long gains.
Cincinnati visits Casino Del Sol Stadium at 11 p.m. EDT on FOX, and the Bearcats now face their toughest test in the air after dealing with Mason McKenzie and Avery Johnson in September.
Utah’s Devon Dampier didn’t need to carry much of the load in a 31-17 win at Iowa State. He threw a 24-yard touchdown to Braden Pegan through traffic in the first quarter, but the Utes leaned mostly on Wayshawn Parker and the ground game from there.
Utah heads into the bye at 4-0, and Kansas is next on Oct. 10.
In Other News...
BYU Heads To TCU With One Big Chance To Silence Doubts
Advanced metrics say BYU should walk into Fort Worth with a real opportunity to back up the record and quiet some of the lingering skepticism around the program. Several projection systems are on the Cougars side, including SP+, FPI and FEI, all of which tilt toward BYU in a matchup that looks more favorable on paper than the road setting might suggest. Most of the forecasts point to a result with BYU ahead by about a touchdown, which is enough to make this feel like more than just another conference trip.
The appeal for BYU is straightforward: an offense with enough punch to test a TCU defense that has had trouble turning possessions into points for opponents. The numbers do not guarantee anything on Saturday, of course, but they do frame this as one of those games that can either reinforce the Cougars rise or leave the conversation about how far they still have to go hanging in the air a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Got Pulled Into A Big 12 Playoff Fight
College footballs playoff debate is suddenly pulling BYU into a much bigger conversation than just its own path to the postseason. With leaders weighing a jump from a 12-team format to 24 teams, the ripple effects would stretch well beyond Selection Sunday, altering how the sport approaches the postseason and cutting further into the bowl system that has long defined December and January.
The Big 12 is among the leagues pushing for the change, which would obviously matter in Provo because it could open the door for more conference teams to stay alive longer. But the push is drawing resistance from those who see bigger costs, less urgency in the regular season and more strain on the sports finances, and analyst Josh Pate has been especially blunt about the risks. For BYU, it is the kind of playoff fight that could reshape its future opportunities even before a single team is officially added. [Read more 🡒]
Undefeated BYU Walks Into A TCU Team Desperate To Respond
TCUs Big 12 home opener comes with plenty on the line, and the setting hardly offers a cushion. The Horned Frogs welcome undefeated BYU to Amon G. Carter Stadium on Oct. 3, with the matchup landing at a time when TCU is trying to steady itself after a rough stretch and sort through its player availability concerns.
BYU brings more than an unbeaten record into Fort Worth, and quarterback Bear Bachmeier is at the center of the challenge for TCUs defense. Add in the usual first-weekend-in-October variables, from game-day details to the weather forecast and the history around the series, and this feels like the kind of test that can quickly define where both teams are headed in league play. [Read more 🡒]